Where Did You Go? A FF7 Murder Mystery
by Illyria's Acolyte
Summary: COMPLETE!Tifa has been kidnapped and a mysterious killer is picking off AVALANCHE one by one. Who will live till the end? Please R&R!


I do not own FF7 or any related characters blah blah blah... By the way, the only rewards I get from this is a feeling of deep satisfaction and the universal praise from my peers. Enjoy!  
  
Where did you go.? A Final Fantasy Seven Murder Mystery  
  
Tifa Lockhart looked up at the sky and thought about the people who died according to her own actions. Her eyes filled with tears and she looked at the ocean through her house in Kalm. She and the other 8 members of AVALANCHE split the 4 million Gil they had accumulated during their travels while Sephiroth was still alive. Sephiroth. She thought of the terrible man who killed so many, including Aeris. She decided to stop thinking about the bad things that happened in her past and get a drink of milk. She went into her kitchen and looked in the refrigerator. As she rummaged around the back of her fridge she noticed a note behind her two-week-old cheese. Tifa picked it up and read it. The note said "Those who seek, but do not find, will see their life forfeited. But those who seek and find the thing, your greatest wish will be granted." Tifa wondered what the note meant. 'I'll talk to Cloud about it in the morning,' she thought as she reentered her bedroom. She screamed when she saw the dead body of Reno of the Turks on her bed. The note that was floating in his blood was so tainted with it that the note was barely readable. But she was able to make out the similar handwriting from the note before. It said "He sought, but did not find." She screamed as a cloaked figure jumped down from her ceiling and clamped a hand over her mouth. She blacked out.  
  
********************************  
  
Cloud Strife paced up and down nervously. He feared for Tifa's safety. "So let's recap. Reno was found dead this morning with a ransom note demanding a human sacrifice for Tifa's return. And it also said that we have 2 days to comply. So, who is going to be the sacrifice?"  
  
Barret Wallace jumped from his seat. "You're actually going to go through with this twisted plan? Are you insane? This is the work of a madman; he is just going to kill Tifa as well! You cannot be serious?" Barret rambled on and on and didn't even notice when Rude and Elena walked into the room. "If the big oaf is done spilling his guts, we would like to speak. This murderer, whoever he is, has brutally dispatched one of three of the greatest Turks ever in existence, me, him, and Tseng." Rude looked slightly hurt. Elena continued. "Since the way his demise was exceptionally gruesome, we request permission to join your little search."  
  
Yuffie Kisaragi raised her hand. "Yes Yuffie?" Cloud asked her.  
  
"Well we can try to search Tifa's house for clues."  
  
Cloud thought about this for a while. "You know Yuffie; you might actually have done something helpful for once." Yuffie beamed with pride. "Thank you. I. wait a second." Cloud quickly interrupted her before she could process what he meant by that. "We'll split up into two teams. One team, led by Yuffie, will go and search Tifa's house for clues. The other team, led by me, will search the Temple of the Ancients." "Why search the Temple? We all saw the Temple fall and turn into the Black Materia. And what would you find there anyway? All that's left is a bunch of ruins," Rude asked. "I just have a hunch," Cloud responded. "Anyway, the two teams will be chosen man-by-man. My first pick is Barret."  
  
"Alright," Yuffie replied. "I pick Elena.  
  
"Rude."  
  
"Red."  
  
"Cait."  
  
"Vincent."  
  
"Cid."  
  
"Now that the teams are set, let's go to where we should be."  
  
As the teams set out to their destinations, the cloaked figure sneaked stealthily down and followed the team going to Kalm to explore Tifa's house. The killer doubted that Cloud would find anything on his wild goose chase to the hideout. Everything was too well protected. Especially the most precious treasure of all.  
  
******************************  
  
Yuffie surveyed the house at Kalm with her trained ninja eye, but was distracted by a swimsuit sale at Costa del Savings. Elena shook her head and took Red and Vincent and went into the house that used to belong to the Mourner of Kalm when he was here. "Search the house. Leave nothing unturned. Red, you check the first floor. Vince, you check the second floor. I'll check the grounds. Let's mosey." The three companions split up and turned the house upside-down looking for anything that might lead them to the killer.  
  
Vincent searched the upstairs floor with utmost care, because he felt that that was the way to do everything. As he approached the kitchen, he thought he heard someone enter. His senses were more acute than the other members of AVALANCHE and they would not have even noticed. He walked by the chocobo painting as a knife pinned part of his cloak to the wall. As he turned to look, knives rained from the drawers and pinned him to the wall. A cloaked figure stepped forward. Vincent was alive just long enough to watch the knife fly at his heart and plunge into it, killing him.  
  
*****************************  
  
Elena walked up the stairs and called Vincent's name. When she saw his bloody corpse pinned up against the wall, she screamed. Red ran up to her immediately. "What is it?" She simply pointed to the spot on the wall, and Red looked at the body and was equally surprised. Of all of AVALANCHE, he expected Vincent to survive. Looks like he was wrong. They walked out of the building, Elena's face white, and her hands shaking. Yuffie walked out of Costa del Savings and said to the group, "Look what I got on sale for only $9.99. Elena, what's wrong, you don't like it?" Elena just stared blankly at nothing in particular as she walked into the Inn where they where staying. "What did I do?" Red shook his head and left Yuffie in the street wondering what the hell happened.  
  
******************************  
  
Cloud marveled at how the Temple had been when he first saw it, but now it was not very magnificent at all. It was just a pile of debris and wreckage. He signaled for his companions to follow him. They followed silently. The Temple was just as trashy as it was when it was first destroyed. Barret felt like he had searched for hours before his hand felt a rock that seemed more worn than the others. "Hey guys, come over here! Watch this." He pushed the rock, and it revealed a secret passage into the heart of the Temple. Barret led the way, with Cloud and Rude close behind. Cid and Cait brought up the rear. As they walked into the main corridor, the direction split into three paths. One went forward, one went right, and one went left. "Alright, it looks like we're going to have to split up. Cid, you go down the middle. I'll go down the left with Cait, and Barret and Rude will go right. Understand???" They all nodded and went off into the passages. Cid whistled as he made his way down the center path. 'Thanks Cloud, the center path is always the most dangerous,' Cid thought. 'But then again, that might mean he knows I can handle myself in a dangerous place.' He reached for the Venus Gospel, but it was gone. 'That's odd,' Cid thought. 'I must have dropped it somewhere back in the tunnel. As he walked down the corridor, he heard a very faint rustling. The next thing he knew, he saw a hooded figure coming toward him. The figure held something very familiar under the cloaked hands. "The Venus Gospel!" Cid screamed as his own weapon was plunged through his stomach. He was barely conscious for a few moments, but then succumbed to the welcoming call of death.  
  
**********************************  
  
Elena looked around her hotel room for anything they might have left. Red wanted to leave as soon as possible because of Vincent's untimely demise. Everything was in order. All that was left was to take a shower. She knew she should not be alone, but she was a Turk, the best of the Turks in her opinion. She was definably much calmer than when she first learned of Vincent's death. Elena the Turk could handle whoever it was that killed Vincent. As she entered the bathroom, a strange rustling sound could be heard. Elena saw the curtain rustle. She walked closer to it, and it began to shudder violently. Elena quickly pulled back the curtain, but it was only the wind caused by a small gap in the shotty hotel wall. Greatly relived, Elena patched up the hole temporarily with a bit of sponge. After fixing the annoying inconvenience, she turned on the shower and removed her prized Turk uniform. The water was ready, so she stepped in. Elena couldn't help but feel scared of the ominous whistling of the hole in the wall. It got louder and louder, until she realized it wasn't the hole after all. It was boiling water, and it was coming from the showerhead. Elena tried to turn it off, but couldn't. She screamed.  
  
**********************************  
  
Barret walked cautiously alongside his companion, Rude. It seemed odd to be working with a Turk. Elena was easy enough to get along with, if you could stand her endless blabbering. But Rude wasn't so cut-and-dry. There was something strange about him.  
  
"Hey Rude Can I ask you something?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Where is your family? You do have one, right?"  
  
Rude winced, and suddenly Barret knew he had hit a tender spot.  
  
"My parents were never around. My dad was a drunk, and my mother died before my tenth birthday. My dad would beat me until I cried. One day, the police found out, but he was rich, and he was able to make a deal with the sheriff. Back then the police force was very corrupted. Finally, I managed to escape with my six year old sister at the age of twelve. My father is still looking for her and me. The only way to survive was in a gang, but I didn't want that for my dear little sister.  
  
"My sister was the cutest little thing you ever saw. She had long, brown hair that was always messy. Her bright blue eyes always sparkled, and she always had something nice to say about everyone. But that all changed one day. Molten Ice, the head of a rival gang, found where I was hiding her. He came and took her from me. She was missing for about a year, but then I managed to squeeze some information out about an old abandoned warehouse. He was hiding her there.  
  
"I went there with the intention of freeing her, but Molten Ice had already brainwashed her into thinking that I killed her older brother, which was impossible unless I commit suicide. We had to fight, but in the end, I had to knock her out with a swift blow to the head. Molten Ice escaped, but my sister was never the same. She went into a coma, and was pronounced dead at 6:46:50 PM on Wednesday, December 04. My dear dear sister is gone, and I never saw her again."  
  
Barret stood transfixed at the heartfelt speech. What more, it had been from "the silent Turk". Rude hardly ever said anything. The sadness of Rude's short family history had made Barret think about what he would feel like in that position. He suddenly felt new respect for the Turk with the dark eyes and dark sunglasses and was glad to have Rude covering his back.  
  
Suddenly, Rude stepped on a tile, and it triggered a pendulum to swing from the ceiling. Rude ducked out of the way in time, but Barret was not so lucky. Rude saw the pained look on his face as the giant mace hit him and sent poor Barret flying against the wall with a sickening crack. Rude looked around the alcove into which he had ducked. It wasn't just a little indent in the wall, it was a doorway. The mace was swinging back, and Rude didn't want to be around when it came smashing through the wall where he was hiding. He slipped quickly and quietly into the room beyond the door.  
  
**********************************  
  
"Elena! Elena, are you done? There are other people on the planet besides you," Yuffie yelled at the door of the bathroom.  
  
"You have no idea how silly that sounds coming from you, Yuffie."  
  
"Oh shut up Red." Yuffie opened the door a little crack. A burning wave of heat came through the doorway. Yuffie stood back. "Red? Red, come here. You'd better see this."  
  
Elena was gone. Not even her bones remained. But there was something that had remained.  
  
"Hey Yuf, look at this. It's a short strand of brown hair, but it's fake. This doesn't make sense."  
  
"I hate to say this, but maybe we should see the spot where Vince died again, to try and get more clues. But, just don't leave me alone in there Red. Every time someone died, they were alone."  
  
"I won't leave you alone Yuffie. This is too dangerous to split up. Maybe we should tell the Inn managers that there have been two murders in as many days."  
  
Yuffie shrugged, and the two journeyed off to the Mourner of Kalm's house. There they saw once again the gruesome sight of Vincent pinned to the wall. Yuffie, too grossed out to even look, stood not far from Red's ready protection while he examined the body. He found something very peculiar.  
  
"Vincent was killed not by the knives, but by an extremely potent poison on the knives that can kill in seconds. This is very strange. Only a strong- willed person would get these ingredients. They are very hard to come by. Saliva of Nible Wolf, Toe of Gorgon, these are quite potent poisons by themselves, but when combined, they make a poison so deadly, it is fatal within seconds of contact with blood. It looks like someone is framing a knife-thrower, and getting away with it. I still have no idea who this person is."  
  
Yuffie walked over to Red, and accidentally dropped the second strand of hair she had found at the scene of Elena's murder. It fell on the poisoned knife and melted. Yuffie swore she saw a light click on in Red's head.  
  
"In the Midgar tunnels, when we fought the Turks, I used Bio equipped with All, and one of them seemed particularly affected. I can't remember which one, but that at least narrows down the list of suspects to Rude, Tifa, Cloud, and me, since Elena and Reno are dead. And if the hair we found at both murder sights has anything to do with the case, it is either to throw us off, or it means that a brunette is to blame."  
  
"So you're saying..."  
  
"Yes. Tifa's the killer."  
  
**********************************  
  
Cloud and Cait treaded cautiously by the markings on the left side of their path. They looked much like the markings that were in the Temple before it collapsed.  
  
"I don't like this place Cloud. Even though I'm just a robot, I still feel emotions like fear and panic. I can sense that this place is dangerous, and I don't even need a Sense materia. We should not be here."  
  
"Cait, you worry way too much. Nothing's going to happen."  
  
Cloud walked casually toward an ornate centerpiece in the middle of the room. There was an inscription on it. Cloud read it aloud.  
  
"'In this temple you will find,  
  
Sacred treasures from your mind.  
  
Don't be greedy or you'll be  
  
Just as dead as your felled tree.' "  
  
"Scary. What does it mean?  
  
"I was hoping your computer could asses that Cait."  
  
"Oh, right." The robotic cat punched in the riddle on his motherboard, and then hit TRANSLATE. Suddenly, Cait started to speak with a robotic female voice, like that of a computer.  
  
"'The location of the thing you most desire is hidden in the center crystal. It is the Key. It lets you see different things, some good, some bad, but all true. The felled tree refers to the symbol for 'tree' in the center of the pedestal. Press it, and a key will pop out.' What did I say?"  
  
"Hold on, I think I know what it meant." Cloud went up to the pedestal and looked at the marking on it. They were in Cetra language. 'I wish Aeris was here. She'd know what these mean,' he thought. "Hey Cait, get over here!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Can you read Cetra?"  
  
"I think I can decipher a few of the symbols, yes." Cait looked at the eight symbols on the pedestal and ran a scan over them.  
  
"If my scanner is correct, then the symbols, in order, read Horse, Dog, Cetra, Unicorn, Moomba, Cactaur, and I don't know what the last two say."  
  
"So we're stuck guessing." Cloud walked over to the pedestal and looked at the symbols. One was a wavy G clef with ivy round about it. The other was a rose.  
  
"It's obviously the rose because a rose is a plant and so is a tree." Cait pressed the rose button, and was promptly hit with a spike cage that came crashing down on him. Cloud was thrown against the wall from the blow. "So it's obviously not the rose."  
  
Cloud pressed the button with the ivy-bound G clef, and a door appeared, and the key to it popped out. Cloud tried the key in the door, and it fit like a glove. With a confused shrug, he bravely ventured through it to the other side.  
  
**********************************  
  
Rude looked around the room he had stumbled into. It was alive with flames that licked up the walls, ceiling, and floor. He dared not risk going any further into the inferno. "It's beautiful, isn't it? The destruction that is. This is my favorite part. I get to kill my long time rival and all his friends, and do it in the most destructive ways!" The psycho laughed. "What's the matter, don't recognize me?" Rude was confused. "I don't know you. How can I recognize someone I don't know?"  
  
"Think Rude, think really hard. Think back to that day nine years ago, when you fought me at that old abandoned warehouse. I remember every move you made. A swift kick right, a left hook, then a, what did you call it, 'swift blow to the head'. I went into a coma, and you stayed by my side every minute." As she said this little speech, her voice was dripping with sarcasm. "I was pronounced dead, you ran off without ever hearing the paddles restart my heart and revive me. I was sent off to live with some family in a loser town named Nible-something. My family was murdered by Sephiroth, and I joined Avalanche. In fact, I was one of the only female members. I was in the Northern Crater when Sephiroth fell. Any idea what my name is now?"  
  
Rude uttered one barely audible word aloud. "Tifa."  
  
**********************************  
  
Cloud entered a room reathed in flame with Rude standing amidst the blaze. There was also a very familiar figure in the fire as well.  
  
"Tif! I'm sp glad to see you. I've been worried sick!"  
  
Tifa chuckled. "You presume I'm the girl you grew up with in Nibelheim, fell in love with, and got my help saving the planet. But I'm not. I'm the girl that Rude called Tiffs and played gangster with. I'm the sister that was 'kidnapped' by Molten Ice before his downfall. I am the sister of Rude, and also Tifa of Nibelheim." After this little address was done, Yuffie and Red ran into the room.  
  
"Guys, guys, the killer is- oh, I see you've figured it out already."  
  
Tifa suddenly held her head like she had a splitting headache. She suddenly snapped to her senses. "Oh, my aching head. What am I doing here?"  
  
"Tifa? Or are you Tiffs?" Rude walked over to her. He gently lifted her face. She was crying. "Tifa, I love you. Not because you're pretty or smart or talented, but because you're my sister, and you mean more to me than all the riches in the world."  
  
"But why did she kill Vincent and Elena?" Yuffie asked.  
  
"She didn't. I did."  
  
A very familiar figure stepped out of the flames on the other side of the room. She had blonde hair and a Turk uniform on her slender body. "Elena!"  
  
**********************************  
  
Elena pulled off her jacket and turned it inside out. On the inside was an icy volcano. She zipped a zipper on the side of her skirt and revealed that she was wearing a flame red mini-skirt. Her Turk shoes clicked together and turned red. Her hair was actually a blonde wig, and she took it off to reveal a bald head. "I am no longer Elena. Elena was just an alias that I lived under. My name is Molten Ice. I kidnapped Tifa and tormented Rude for ten long years. I am just an evil person, aren't I?"  
  
"You bitch!" Tifa landed a roundhouse kick to Elena, or Molten Ice, or whatever she was called. Molten Ice stumbled back, almost into the flames. Tifa swung her foot back and landed a kick to Molten Ice's stomach, and she flew backwards into the blaze. With a murderous look in her eyes, Tifa turned around. "Let's get out of here." And they did.  
  
**********************************  
  
After the murders, Cloud Strife, after paying off his half a million gil share of the money he got for killing Sephiroth, got into a lot of trouble with creditors trying to make amends with the families Molten Ice killed. He declared bankruptcy and had to sell his house in Costa del Sol to pay off the debt. He now works as an actor with absolutely no acting talent.  
  
Tifa Lockhart got into a fight with her landlord and lost her house and her bar. After that, she moved in with her brother Rude. Tifa now works as a barmaid in a bar in Junon.  
  
Red XIII, or Nanaki, still lives in Cosmo Canyon and has not had anything bad happen to him since the killings.  
  
Yuffie Kisaragi was hunting for pelts one day when she was killed by a wandering monster. Cloud was the only AVALANCHE member who did not attend her funeral, because he had too many bills and was under house arrest.  
  
Rude lives in Junon where he lives quietly with his wife and sister, Tifa. He hit rock bottom financially a few times, but got back up on his feet.  
  
Barret, Cid, Cait, Elena, Reno, and Vincent are still dead as doornails. Nothing has changed. 


End file.
